What's So Bad About Gym Partner? [Archive]

Linkpre

08-23-2007, 03:50 PM

I've been watching episodes of Cartoon Network's series My Gym Partner's A Monkey and I've been enjoying it greatly. I just don't understand all the hate it gets. I understand people have different opinions, but it just seems like everyone dosen't like this show.

In my honest opinion, I think the show has alot of quality. The voicework really impressed me. The show has a really diverse cast of voice actors. Then there's the smooth animation. It's only gotten better as the show progressed. And then the episode's various plots can be very funny.

Really I'd just like to know why people seem to dislike this show? Is it because it was released during the "golden arc" of the Cartoon Cartoons?

Thanks for listening.

Movie06

08-23-2007, 04:32 PM

For my reasons, it's not funny, the premise is lame and the writing is something Uwe Boll would write if he worked on a kids show.

DarthGonzo

08-23-2007, 04:44 PM

For my reasons, it's not funny, the premise is lame and the writing is something Uwe Boll would write if he worked on a kids show.

Come again?? :confused:

Dr.Pepper

08-23-2007, 04:46 PM

I mean the show is okay with me, but it is far from being my favorite. For me I don't like all the butt jokes and I think the charecters are kinda ugly IMO.

Shift

08-23-2007, 04:50 PM

For me, the one thing that makes the show stand out in a good way is Windsor.

Movie06

08-23-2007, 04:56 PM

Come again?? :confused:

Those are my reasons why I hate My Gym Partner's a Monkey.

NintyScreen

08-23-2007, 05:02 PM

This topic is just like saying if you were a fan of Squirrel Boy (like me), you'd want to answer the same questions that haters are expected to say.

Darklordavaitor

08-23-2007, 05:06 PM

Rolling Cloud

08-23-2007, 05:08 PM

My reasons for hating it are simple.

1) Way too many Butt jokes.

2) The one thing that I hated about it was the time when he realized he couldn't figure out how to communicate with regular humans again. COME ON! Even if he has been with the animal school for a while, it's not like he was conditioned to only interact with animals.

PC!

08-23-2007, 05:28 PM

For me I don't like all the butt jokes and I think the charecters are kinda ugly IMO.

My thoughts exactly.

Though I must say, the show has definitely gotten better since it's inception. The butt jokes are fewer and the writing is sharper. Still not a fan of the character designs, though.

Movie06

08-23-2007, 05:37 PM

My reasons for hating it are simple.

1) Way too many Butt jokes.

Oh yes, that's anpther reason why I hate that show, the enormous amount of butt jokes.

Kury Wagner

08-23-2007, 06:44 PM

I like this cartoon a lot. =\ It's a good, silly show. I like all of the characters, aside from Lupe, it's bright and colourful, it's a silly concept that's executed rather well. It's not spectacular by any means, but it's decent.

Let's put it this way, if I had to choose between Lazlo and Gym Partner, I'd pick the latter. Much more interesting, and less lame.

Dark Soul

08-23-2007, 06:56 PM

Well first off the title of the show is very misleading because the show barely has anything to do with Adam and Jake being gym partners maybe only a segment an episode.

Secondly the constant butt joke, character design is lame and the writing is sub par making the show watchable but not something that is "great".

Its better than Lazlo but not much. The only reason why Gym Partner is better is because I can sit through an episode and Lazlo is just mind numbingly stupid.

Again the future of cartoons that are replacing the "golden age" ones are poor.

TheVofSteel

08-23-2007, 06:57 PM

I'm pretty sure the title is "My Gym Partner is a Monkey" to give you the idea that he's going to school with animals. I don't think they meant for it to actually be about gym class.

Dark Soul

08-23-2007, 06:59 PM

I'm pretty sure the title is "My Gym Partner is a Monkey" to give you the idea that he's going to school with animals. I don't think they meant for it to actually be about gym class.
Well when I first heard about it I thought it was an animal gym class. How is the viewer supposed to know that. You say that now but did you really think that before actually watching it?

TheVofSteel

08-23-2007, 07:03 PM

Maybe when I first heard of the show's existence through a press release, but I don't think the previews that ran before it began showed nothing but gym class.

Kids don't really read online press releases so for them, their first glimpse of the show is the previews so most of them probably got the idea.

Kury Wagner

08-23-2007, 07:09 PM

Well when I first heard about it I thought it was an animal gym class. How is the viewer supposed to know that. You say that now but did you really think that before actually watching it?Common sense? I know I didn't think, "ah, it's going to be focused on gym class." That's a silly concept that couldn't go very far at all. And think about it, wouldn't it be boring and a worse show if it had been? "Animal School" would've been a lamer title. xP

Dark Soul

08-23-2007, 07:22 PM

Knowing CN now I wouldn't put it past them :p But still they could of came up with a better title.

Well you also have to put the younger people involved, lets say 10 year olds what would they think. Its all in how you see it I guess. Pretty stupid of me to think that but that was the first thought when I first heard about it.

DarthGonzo

08-23-2007, 07:34 PM

Jake once pointed out during an episode that the show's title makes no sense since they've rarely been seen in gym class together.

Hey, I thought it was clever.

Dr.Pepper

08-23-2007, 07:59 PM

Jake once pointed out during an episode that the show's title makes no sense since they've rarely been seen in gym class together.

Hey, I thought it was clever.
I remember that.
I guess they could of called it "My Best Friend's a Monkey" or something. That wouldn't have been that dumb I guess.

Matt Hazuda

08-23-2007, 08:01 PM

Let's put it this way, if I had to choose between Lazlo and Gym Partner, I'd pick the latter. Much more interesting, and less lame.Given the choice between a giant ****** and a turd sandwich we all lose.

Kury Wagner

08-23-2007, 08:03 PM

I remember that.
I guess they could of called it "My Best Friend's a Monkey" or something. That wouldn't have been that dumb I guess.But that doesn't really put the concept of them going to school together in the title.

A title is a title, really. Just like there are thousands of books and songs with titles that aren't actually relevant to the story/song, there will be less than literal show titles. It could definitely be worse.

Antiyonder

08-23-2007, 08:42 PM

I myself am indifferent. It's not a show I'm going to make a big effort to watch, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. The only problem is like most shows, it's played too many times and like most non-Toonami shows (Ben 10 is close to that) is set it school. Hopefully Santo and Secret Saturdays will break that habit.

Speedy Boris

08-23-2007, 10:14 PM

I've watched a few episodes and I simply don't find it funny, I'm fairly sick of school-based shows (as unorthodox of a school as it is), and I can't say I'm a fan of its flat art style. Maybe I would like it more if I was younger and in its target audience, I don't really know. That's all speculation; maybe I would've disliked it as a kid, too. But I can't say it does much for me at 24. Well when I first heard about it I thought it was an animal gym class. How is the viewer supposed to know that. You say that now but did you really think that before actually watching it? Don't feel bad; I didn't know it had very little to do with gym class, either. When I heard the title and knew nothing about the show, I thought it was an all-human school with a boy who just happened to have a monkey as his gym partner, and that the show revolved around the gym.

Desensitized

08-23-2007, 10:54 PM

Given the choice between a giant ****** and a turd sandwich we all lose.
That's why I bought DVD sets, in case this problem ever arises! :D

Tea

08-24-2007, 12:17 AM

I actually find My Gym Partner's a Monkey pretty funny. So I don't really understand all the hate for it either. Jokes are more hit than miss AND they use classical funny cartoon music ala Ren and Stimpy. Sometimes it's even like Spongebob as far as zaniness and humor goes.

Then again that's just me (apparently)!

Never liked Squirrel Boy though. Just don't find it funny. And ironically it's suffered the same fate as Camp Lazlo (creators of past cartoons that had adult humor now doing kid shows that are not up to par)

yoshirider13

08-24-2007, 07:49 AM

You know, they hardly ever use Jake's ass for humor anymore. What I like about the show is that the writing is acutally pretty decent and the characters not so bad(particulary Pixiefrog and Winsor), and, well, I don't know, there's much worse shows out there. Pokemon, anyone?

Excuse me? Did you just say Pokemon is worse then Gym Partner? Hell No! Gym partner has the most dry humor in all of CN's cartoons. Seriously. Every episode I have seen they have used Jake's Butt atleast once. Like that stupid episode where jake used his butt to do a comedy act. WTH!?

Fizzlo

08-24-2007, 06:09 PM

Bubblegum Girl

08-24-2007, 06:29 PM

Well when I first heard about it I thought it was an animal gym class. How is the viewer supposed to know that. You say that now but did you really think that before actually watching it?

When I first heard about it, I thought it would be about a Tarzan-like kid living in the jungle and goes to a jungle school and one of the students happens to be a monkey. That would have been a lot interesting to see than what's on now.

But what I really don't like is the constant butt jokes and the plot of the show seems so lame. The kid gets transfer to school for animal just because his last name sounds the same as lion? That's so stupid. :shrug: And why do they need a school for zoo animals if they're gonna to be zoo animals anyway? That doesn't make any sense.

The only character I like from the show is Winsor. I really like his personality. ;)

HEATXZ

08-24-2007, 06:42 PM

Gym partner is okay but not great,Squirrel Boy is one of the worst cartoons ever,The problem is that there too many shows with talking animals,i enjoy Class of 3000

Dr.Pepper

08-24-2007, 06:47 PM

I'm with you all the way! MGPAM is one of the funniest shows on CN! It seems like a lot of people hate the NEWER cartoons such as MGPAM, Camp Lazlo, Squirrel Boy and Class of 3000. Also, thousands of people are always saying that Out of Jimmy's Head and Fried Dynamite are the stupidest shows on CN...THE SHOWS DIDN'T EVEN AIR YET!!
Camp Lazlo and Class of 3000 are alright. They're better than Gym Partner. Squirrle boy is just flat out boring. Out of Jimmy's head looks so lame and Fried Dynamite actuallly seems okay.

Taylor Karras

08-24-2007, 08:26 PM

Well, The premise seems stupid. Some of the jokes go over-the-head and how much material can they squeeze out of this?

Anthony C.

08-25-2007, 09:08 AM

Besides Billy and Mandy, I don't keep up with any of the original programming of Cartoon Network, but I did watch a few episodes of Gym Partner and I think it sucked. Totally unfunny and it reeked of "Cartoon-by-Committe" (I also have the same amount of disdain for Squirrel Boy too seeing that the creator of that show was also responsible for the criminally underrated "DUCKMAN".) I really doesn't have anything going for it.

Scythemantis

08-25-2007, 11:32 AM

I don't know what people mean about "Golden Age". If Gym Partner had premiered the same time as Dexter's Lab and Johnny Bravo, most of you would probably adore it - since neither of those were particularly good shows to begin with. Everyone lets Nostalgia blind them.

I find a lot of the animal jokes to be imaginative and cool, but I'm an animal nerd more than a cartoon nerd.

Those are my reasons why I hate My Gym Partner's a Monkey.

He said "come again" because your comparison to Uwe Boll could not POSSIBLY make less sense. What the hell does Gym Partner even remotely have in common with Boll's writing style?

Movie06

08-25-2007, 12:15 PM

He said "come again" because your comparison to Uwe Boll could not POSSIBLY make less sense. What the hell does Gym Partner even remotely have in common with Boll's writing style?

I don't know, I read a Uwe Boll interview and that part of the response came to mind.

.bg

08-25-2007, 12:35 PM

Butt jokes
Poop jokes
Kiddie humour
Bad character design
Way too boringThat's what's so bad about Gym Partner.

DenisAndrejev

08-26-2007, 09:54 AM

I noticed on CN - The sillier the concept,the more CN think the show with a silly concept gets more ratings... But as you can see, almost everyone hates the show, btw i like My Gym Partner's a Money too

Dudley

08-26-2007, 12:11 PM

I think it's kind of boring. There are some good sight gags, but everything else is kinda meh.

FightingDreamer

08-26-2007, 01:24 PM

Much like Camp Lazlo and Squirrel Boy, Gym Partner's main problem is that it's boring. Aside from the occasional good bits from Principal Pixiefrog and his constant suspicion that people want to sue the school, or the goldfish gym coach who sounds like a guy, it's just meh.

Kurokawa41

08-26-2007, 01:44 PM

I hate the art design of the show with a passion. The humour is either A. very immature and therefore has no wit to it, and at other times B. tries to be witty but misses its mark or takes too long to get there and thus fails.

Edit: I don't get why people dislike Squirrel Boy. That show has a pretty sharp wit.

Kury Wagner

08-26-2007, 01:50 PM

Edit: I don't get why people dislike Squirrel Boy. That show has a pretty sharp wit.
Horrible design, annoying voices, stupid plots. I can't bear to sit through an episode of Squirrel Boy.

Super Sonic

08-26-2007, 02:22 PM

I just find Gym Partner boring, and the animation just looks hideous. The plot is odd, and makes no sense for the reasons BubblegumGirl pointed out and a few other reasons. Watching Adam get all emo about his "prediciment" that could easily be fixed with a few phone calls bores me to tears as well. Windsor is awesome, though.
As for Lazlo, I never liked it because it reminds me too much of Spongebob and is a disappointment compared to Rocko.

Speedy Boris

08-26-2007, 02:50 PM

Horrible design The designs are an acquired taste but I like them. They're abstract and very Duckman-like, no surprise since Everett Peck designed them.

Draft

08-26-2007, 02:58 PM

Gym Partner isn't too bad, but i often do switch the channel when it comes out. Still, it's legions better than Squirrel Boy ,which bores the hell outta me(And Richard Hovitz works on it too...)

Kurokawa41

08-26-2007, 02:58 PM

Horrible design, annoying voices, stupid plots. I can't bear to sit through an episode of Squirrel Boy.

Horrible design and stupid plots, yes. Annoying voices, though? Gym Partner's voices are much more annoying. Actually that's another thing I hate about it. Everyone is always screaming and yelling for the stupidest reasons and I hate it, it's so annoying.

Dr.Pepper

08-26-2007, 05:48 PM

The voices on Squirrle Boy aren't that. Its just the lame plot and ugly chareacters turn me away.

btv

08-26-2007, 06:33 PM

Horrible design and stupid plots, yes. Annoying voices, though? Gym Partner's voices are much more annoying. Actually that's another thing I hate about it. Everyone is always screaming and yelling for the stupidest reasons and I hate it, it's so annoying.

That's the joke.

Gym Partner has grown on me after a long while, the same with Lazlo in a way (although if there's something else on, anything else, Lazlo gets dumped)... Squirrel Boy, aside from one episode (where Rodney's grandpa (??) tells a long winded story that's almost completely false) has yet to have the same effect.

These types of shows remind me of Mike Lou and Ogg (remember that old gem?) where as a kid I was really indifferent about it and I never really paid attention to whether or not the series had a new episode brewing, which was the complete opposite for other favorites such as Ed Edd and Eddy, Dexter, Samurai, Powerpuff, or Dragonball.

I'm glad this network embraces new properties better then Nick, but I really want to see something that hasn't been rung through the ringer a few times. If you take a look at the schedule, a lot of the new shows have been relying on nice guy+mean guy duos to move plots instead of other formats (for example, Mac and Bloo, Rodney and Red Haired Kid, ect.). At least shows like Dexter used this but switched it around so that Dexter OR DeeDee could play a nice/mean role when needed to.

I understand the hate for Gym Partner, but if you have been paying attention to newer episodes, it's actually very funny and very enjoyable. It just got off to an awful start. I noticed a new Squirrel Boy preview where Rodney and The Dad are stranded on a boat in the middle of a lake, and that looked pretty funny. So, maybe we should stand back and give these properties room to breathe. If I remember correctly, even Dexter and Powerpuff got off to a rough start (although I have always enjoyed those episodes, though). I don't advise giving Out Of Jimmy's Head a break, though, the concept was just wasted on that, and it already proved what it was able to do.

Kurokawa41

08-26-2007, 07:48 PM

That's the joke.

But... but it's not even funny. At all. Just very, very annoying.

And sure, Squirrel Boy may have boring plots and characters, but it has a sharp wit with its comedy. Can't say the same for Gym Partner.

Darklordavaitor

08-26-2007, 08:18 PM

And sure, Squirrel Boy may have boring plots and characters, but it has a sharp wit with its comedy.
No, it doesn't.
Can't say the same for Gym Partner.For the most part, yes, you can.

Kurokawa41

08-26-2007, 08:38 PM

No, it doesn't.

Yeah, it does. Squirrel Boy has a witty sense of humour; it uses things like irony (the name of other type I'm thinking of escapes me at the moment) rather than immature, blunt jokes that have no real point to them. You may not like the show, but you can't argue that fact.

Taylor Karras

08-26-2007, 08:50 PM

Kurokawa41

08-26-2007, 09:37 PM

Congratulations, Your a minority (a small bunch of people)

Squirrel Boy is unintelligent, poorly voiced, poorly plotted and poorly scripted, All of the jokes in Squirrel Boy are funny and uninteresting, and why is the acting so wooden?

I honestly don't know how you can consider Squirrel Boy "unintelligent" compared to stuff like Gym Partner, Lazlo, even Billy and Mandy. Meh.

Katsumara

08-26-2007, 10:03 PM

One contraction and one word. It's stupid.

Darklordavaitor

08-27-2007, 03:31 PM

Yeah, it does. Squirrel Boy has a witty sense of humour; it uses things like irony (the name of other type I'm thinking of escapes me at the moment) rather than immature, blunt jokes that have no real point to them. You may not like the show, but you can't argue that fact.
It may try to have a witty sense of humor, but ultimately fails, while when Gym Partner tries wit, it acutally succeeds. JMHO, though.

btv

08-27-2007, 04:24 PM

We can all argue to the point of death what shows we think are wittier, but none of them really outmatch each other. Where one show does great it blows in about two other areas.

And Squirrel Boy is not that witty. The wit that is there isn't even humorous. It's like one of those things you think about and realize 'Aw the writer tried something here, maybe I should have laughed'.

Gym Partner, and nobody can really deny this, has made leaps and bounds in humor from when it first started. I remember hating the show when it first premiered and now I look forward to new episodes. Have you seen the one where Principal Pixiefrog gets his first kiss and it turns out he's been a prince this entire time? Normally that'd be good enough, but he stays the same size and form when he's a human. That was pretty funny.

Lazlo has always been hit and miss, and this season's episodes pretty much make it Camp Edward, since that's the only constantly funny character on the show. Squirrel Boy has stayed in it's own little area doing what it has always done. There's been no improvements on anything as far as I can tell. When was the last time you've heard of someone here or in real life talking about that show? Absolutely nobody, I'm guessing. At least around where I'm at, Gym Partner was brought up in a few conversations. It wasn't amazingly positive, but people were talking about it anyway.

Kurokawa41

08-27-2007, 09:13 PM

I'm not going to argue because to me it is clear that shows like Gym Partner rely more on immature visual gags rather than intelligent humour like the kind that Squirrel Boy surprised me with. Sure, I thought it'd be awful at first too, but I watched it and was surprised at how sophisticated a lot of the jokes were. Regardless, I'm not going to argue it.

Frank

08-28-2007, 02:47 AM

I like Camp Lazlo. I find the characters appealing and likable. The character designs are distinctive and the animation is great. The best stories are the ones that are centered around Lumpus, Edward, and the Squirrel Scouts. The show may not be as edgy as Rocko but it has its charm.

I don't Like My Gym Partner is a Monkey. Adam Lyon is sympathetic enough but the rest of the characters particularly most of the animal ones are unlikeable. The designs are ugly and the animation is poor. I usually try to avoid this show.

Henk55

08-28-2007, 10:42 AM

all the quasi-wonkiness
it has all that's is done million times before

.bg

08-28-2007, 11:32 AM

Squirrel Boy is boring and seems to go very sloooowwwwwllllllyyyy.

Oh, how I pine for Duckman. At least Everett Peck was given freedom to do whatever the hell he wanted on that show.

CartoonSage

08-28-2007, 11:47 AM

I don't know what people mean about "Golden Age". If Gym Partner had premiered the same time as Dexter's Lab and Johnny Bravo, most of you would probably adore it - since neither of those were particularly good shows to begin with. Everyone lets Nostalgia blind them.

I have to say, after reading this I went to CN Video to watchs these shows, first I watched Gym Partner then I watched Dexter's Lab and JB, and it may be just my opinion but DL and JB were just more entertaining, the characters had appealing personality the jokes were funny, and overall those shows were way more enjoyable than Gym Partner.

Yeah, I'll admit, nostalgia does take over when I compare cartoons sometimes but this show just isn't entertaining at all, it's mediocre, slow, and unfunny, but again it's just my opinion.